Stream Live TV to iPad for Free

The cable companies keep promising us live streams of their stations to our iPads and iPhones, but haven’t delivered yet. L.A. viewers are getting a taste of what live streaming TV is like – but probably not for long.

FilmOn is the nasty little secret the networks and cable carriers don’t want you to find out about. FilmOn is streaming free HD TV to your iPad and iPhone. The service lets you tune into the live broadcasts of 25 popular channels including CNN, BBC, Bloomberg, and ITV. FilmOn is free for now, but a basic package with more channels is offered for $9.95 per month, while a premium package including movie channels and pay-per-view movies is $24.95.

Convenient, right? But is it legal?

Obviously, the networks say no, which is why they’re suing FilmOn and its founder Aiki David, but FilmOn claims to be within their rights because of the FCC rules allowing “secondary transmissions” of broadcast signals. The networks are going to fight this with everything they’ve got, because they aren’t getting paid for the ads, and if services like FilmOn are ruled to be legal, that could be the death of the cable industry.

Who’s going to pay their ridiculous rates and put up with their crappy service when viewers can get practically anything on their computers or mobile devices and connect them to their TV screens? I know FilmOn will likely get shut down pretty soon, but for now it gives a glimpse into what we can expect in the future, when those dinosaurs at the TV networks and cable companies are finally forced to come into the digital age.